Thursday, July 23, 2009

Personal Paradigm Shift

I've been reading a number of blog posts lately about the term "Web 2.0" being a completely useless term and I must admit that I have felt this way for quite some time. The term does nothing to describe its meaning to those that don't understand it, is already getting quite "old" to those of us that do, and is meaningless to today's students because the web has always been interactive to them. With all that being said, I find myself using the term "web 2.0" anyway, mostly out of laziness. I have a wiki site that I often use as a resource for training, and it has a (web 2.0) page called "Internet Resources," but I don't feel this really explains the nature of these tools either. I'm looking for a term that says "interactive, dynamic, user-friendly, engaging, free internet websites" but is catchy and fun.
My struggle with the term is not only that it doesn't describe or indicate in any way the power or application of the tools, but it also seems automatically throw up a barrier between the "tech literate" and the "not so literate" folks. This is a problem for me because it will automatically prevent people from listening if they don't understand the terminology being used. I've always felt that when people use a lot of technical jargon in their presentations and explanations that all they really want to do is prove to the audience how smart they are. After I've completed a class or PD session, if the exit surveys indicate that "Erin was really patient when participants needed additional help or explanations" or that "Erin was able to break down the concepts into easy to understand terms," then I feel that I've done my job. If the survey reflects thoughts such as "I am completely overwhelmed and don't know how to use anything from this session," then I have not done my job and that I have probably hindered the progress of those participants, rather than furthered it.
I suppose that the fact still remains that no matter how frustrated I am with the term, it is here to stay - at least for a while. The only solace I can find is that as the internet and its tools continue to evolve, surely the nomenclature will do the same and we won't have to live with the term "forever."

Image courtesy of Flickr and
Leo Reynolds

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